I'm not sure. I think the Wenelians (if there is such a beast) were dead set against any overlords. They haven't had any rulers they've actually liked since the early Dawn Age. I think the reason the Trader Princes have been so successful is that their hand is very light. They are also the only people with working trade/negotiate magic in the region.
I think much of the area - particularly the western half - was abandoned as too much trouble though I think that this may explain the establishment of the various Ditali kingdoms.
Wenelia is a land of glens, hollows, and fairly rugged east-west terrain. Its easy to become isolationist - culturally I used the Balkans as an example for the kind of immiscible cultural groups we find in Wenelia as a whole. A few large groups such as the various Ditali people but on the whole, most are just isolated clans or small, transitory tribes.
I suspect this would make their marriage patterns less exogamous than the Heortling norm. But again, I do not think that the Wenelians are Heortling or Esrolia Lite.
> > Of course, when they purged themselves of supposed "God Learner"
> > influence, the Wenelians purged themselves of all but their most
> > traditional practices. On the whole, this included the
Lightbringer
> > cults as well as foreign. With the generally harsh lifestyle and
> > poverty post Sinking/Goddess Switch, cults such as Chalana Arroy
and
> > Lankor Mhy would be luxuries many clans could ill-afford. It was
a
> > Cultural Revolution...
>
> That was my thought as well. From about 930 until after 1050 with
the
> sinking of Slontos, Wenelia got hit with just unbelievable disaster
> after disaster - the Closing, the Devastation of the Vent and
finally
> the sinking of Slontos. Here's a description of what happened in
1050
> (from the upcoming History of the Heortling Peoples):
(snip)
> put the Ship Clutter ten miles upriver from Smithstone. Andrar
sent a
> band of the best flyers to investigate Slontos and they reported
that
> the whole of land was gone and in its place a vast muddy sea with a
> few islands."
Interesting. I know that the Islands were hard hit (but not exterminated). This seems rather extreme but I know that people are incredibly resilient - but it would serve to reset the cultural rather dramatically. In some ways, the social effects of the Closing on the Mournsea Islands would be like that of the Syndics Ban. That said, there was some travel between islands - but it was very risky.
The Venting may be responsible for some of what are thought to be Gods War features along the Posion Shore such as the Petrified Sea - or may have been recapitulations of events from pre-Time. I was under the impression they were older but one lava flow piled upon another looks much the same (this I know far too well!)
> The Wenelians got hit with the end of the world and probably
retreated
> into their ancestral survival myths. They invoked ancestors,
animals,
> some became trees, worshiped the a surviving saint, or did
something
> else to survive this terribly time. What survived was a patchwork
> mess of traditions and practices.
>
> Jeff
Good points. Any survival magic would have been invoked, regardless of consequences. I had not considered things being quite so bad. This makes the Fimbulwinter of Dragon Pass look like a tea party.
The resultant mess of survivors (not that they were very organized beforehand) would make a great game. Very 'post apocalyptic' in feel. I think that you just changed my perspective of Caselain and his journey from a Marco Polo-esque journey into something from Roger Zelazny's "Damnation Alley" - complete with cultists. At least I know where the "cargo cultists" of Granbon come from now. My brain hurts now.
Jeff
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